Good Guide app reveals product safety, ethics and eco-impact

Do you want to be sure that the products you use at home are not a threat to your health or the health of others? Here is an online resource and an app to add that will help you decide what YOU want from your products and provide you all of the information you need to make the wisest choices on the go.

The Good Guide contains over 100,000 products rated on a scale of 1-10 and their impacts on health, society and the environment. It provides you with the details behind the ratings, third-party certifications, top alternative products, top products in brand and the ingredients with their concern levels. All you have to do is download the app to your Android or iPhone and scan the barcode on the product in question.

You can also browse products by category to provide you with the best options. The categories on the app are personal care, household cleaners, food, pet food, paper products, cars, cell phones, appliances and apparel. The website also has a broader category for household as well as one for babies and kids and electronics.

This resource was developed by Dara O’Rourke, a professor of environmental and labor policy at the University of California, Berkeley, in response to his own desire to find out the truth behind the products he brings into his home every day. He and his team of environmental scientists and engineers have developed a thorough system of rating and transparency that you can read all about on the website. Also, you can customize your search and set up your own filters for products that are important to you that include fragrance-free, organic, scientifically proven hazards, nutrition, animal welfare certifications, fair trade, climate change, energy efficient, recycled materials, pollution, resource conservation and labor and human rights. The Good Guide goes above and beyond the standard by considering all of the elements of sustainability.

Gone are the days where I spend hours agonizing down every aisle over what to buy with only the information on the label to go by. This tool has forever changed how I choose what I use and find the products that are aligned with my ideals and priorities.